Combined book-holder



(No M0de1.)'

' O. P. JOHNSON.

COMBINED BOOK HOLDER, INDEX, AND WRITING TABLET.

No. 527,114. Patented Oct. 9,1894.

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fi ATTORNEY.

UNITED STATEs PATENT 'FF-ICE.

CHESTER F. JOHNSON, OF LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 527,114, dated October 9, 1894.

Application filed A ust '7, l 8 9 3.

.To all whom it may concern:

l 3eitknown that I, CHESTER F. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell, in the county of Middlesex and Com monwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a certaln new and useful Improvementin a Oombined Book-Holder, Index, and Writing-Tablet, of which the following is a specification. My invention relates to combined book holders, indexes and writing-tablets and comprises an inclined surface or table for the support of a book, as a telephone list or directory, an inclined cover, hinged to said table and adapted to supporta writing pad or block of paper while being written upon, said cover being also provided at its margin with index-letters arranged above tags, secured to the first pages of the alphabetically arranged divisions of said book, to enable the book to be opened to any alphabetical division by raising the cover and at the same time presslng the tag below the corresponding letter on said cover, against the under surface of said cover. I

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a right'side elevation of my improved device secured to a wall or vertical support; Fig. 2, a front elevation of the same, showing the book and cover closed; Fig. 3, a front elevation of the same with the cover opened; Fig. 4, an enlarged front elevation of the righthand portion of the lower front end of the same; Fig. 5, a front view of one of the hinges and a part of the cord by which the book is attached to the table and cover; Fig. 6, a section on the line 6 6 in Fig. 1, of a part of the table, cover and book, showing also the hinge and attaching cord; Fig. 7, a rear view of one "of the hinges and a part of the cover, a part of the table and a part of the'attaching-cord Fig. 8, a rear View of a part of-the cover, showing the hinge in section and the attachlug-cord passing through a hole in the book; Fig. 9, a rear View of the hinge partly in section, showing a part of the cover and the attaching-cord secured to said cover by a staple; Fig. 10, a plan of a part of the strip on which are printed the index-letters and which is secured to the left edge and left margin of the front of the cover; Fig. 11, a front view of a part of the cover, showing the padholding spring and its securing-plate; Fig. 12, a similar view, omitting said plate.

A is a wall-plate, adapted to be secured by Serial llo. 482,509. (No model.)

of which are bent at right angles to the plane of said rest and driven into the lower end or edge of said table D. The cover G is attached to the table D by hinges H, the form of which is shown in Figs. 4 to 9,0ne part h of each hinge being of wire bent into the form of a rectangle and again bent at h, at right 'angles, to form a skeleton angle-iron, one part of which is held flat against the under face of the cover G by means of a clamp-plate h through which screws 71, are driveninto said cover, the slots h in said clamp-plates being long enough transversely of said clam p-plates to allow said hinges to be adjusted nearer to or farther from the adjacent edge of the cover, to accommodate books of varying width between the cover and table. The wire part it of each hinge extends from the clamp-plate W at right angles to the under or inner face of the cover G backward for a distance as great as the thickness of the book E, and the ends of said wire part it enter the knuckle h of the leaf 72 or other part of the hinge, said leaf being like one of the leavesof a straphinge or butt-hinge, except, as hereinafter stated, and being secured by screws 72, to the table D, as shown in Fig. 5. The book E is prevented from sliding downward on the cover, when the book is lifted entirely from the table in opening the cover bya stop-plate I, secured tothe lower edge of the cover. The movement of the cover on its hinges is limited by a chain orinextensible connection J, one end of which is secured to the cover and the other to said table E, in an obvious manner. v

The book E is secured to the table and cover by means of two cords K each fastened at one end to the cover by means of a staple is, as shown in Figs. 6 and 9, the cords then passing down through holes e in the book, thence under the book to and through notches or holes h in the strap part of thehinges H, the two cords K being then tied together, at

A book k, as shown in Fig. 1. Byuntying the cords K the book E may be quickly removed and replaced or another book may be substituted for the one removed.

To the free or front edge of the first leaf of each alphabetical division of the book is secured a tag L, as shown in Fig. 3, and on the front of the cover are arranged as many letters as there are such divisions, each letter being immediately over the tag L belonging to the corresponding alphabetical division, so that, by placing the finger under the tag immediately beneath any letter on the cover and holding said tag up against the under or rear face of the cover and at the same time opening the cover, the book will be opened at the alphabetical division corresponding to said letter.

Vthere two or more letters are on the same page or on adjacent pages which face each other, the corresponding two or more letters will be placed in the same horizontal line on the cover, as indicated in Fig. 2, in case of the letters Q R, V W, and Y Z. Obviously, for the letters on the cover, numbers or other distinguishing marks or words or names of persons or places may be substituted to refer to corresponding divisions or passages in the book E.

The letters or other index-marks are preferably printed on a strip L of paper (see Fig. 10) which is pasted on the left margin of the cover and is preferably wide enough to reach over the adjacent free edge of the cover, the part I of the strip which covers the edge of the cover having lines Z at right angles to the front face of the cover to assist in placing tags L at the proper distance from the top of the book and from each other.

When the book E rest upon its front page, as shown, the row of tags L will, when placed as indicated in a book of considerable thickness, be farthest from the cover at the top of the book and will gradually approach the cover downward.

To avoid making the tags near the upper end of the row of great length, in order that they may be held against the cover, as above described, a wedge-shaped ledge G is secured to and forms a part of the back of said cover at the free outer edge of said cover, said ledge being thickest at the top to bring its back at approximately equal distances from all the tags, and against this ledge or this part of the back of the cover the required tag is held in opening the book.

To the front of the cover, near the top of the same is secured a wire M, the ends m of which are driven into the face of the cover, the portion m between the ends or legs m being bent forward or below the upper ends of said legs in such a manner as to reach over the upper margin of a writing-pad N, arranged on said cover and a wire spring P, see Figs. 2, 11, and 12, is secured in acircular depression g, said wire being bent in the form of an arc of a circle and one end of said wire be- Y of said wire being bent into a loop 1).

ing driven into said cover, and the othergrklld e spring P is retained in its place by a securing-plate Q which nearly covers said depression g and is secured to the cover by small nails or screws q.

To secure a writing-pad or paper-block to the cover, the loop 1), which lies in a plane parallel with the face of the cover, is inserted in said pad in front of the back of said pad, at the lower end of said pad, and the pad is then pushed downward until its upper end is below the wire M and the upper end of the pad is passed under the horizontal part of. said wire M, where it will beheld by the elas' ticity of the spring P.

To remove the writing-pad it is only necessary to force the pad downward until its upper end is clear of the wire fastening M, after which it may be lifted from the cover.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination of a book, having division-marking tags, secured to the leaves thereof and projecting from said leaves, and a cover having index-marks, corresponding to the divisions of said book, said cover having also a ledge arranged at substantially equal distances from all of said tags, as and for the purpose specified.

2. The combination of a book, having division-marking tags, secured to the leaves thereof and projecting from said leaves, and a cover having index-marks, corresponding to the divisions of said book, said cover having also a ledge arranged at substantially equal distances from all of said tags and provided with lines arranged at right angles with the outer face of said cover to indicate the proper positions of said tags, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of a table, adapted to support a book, a cover, a hinge connecting said table and cover, said hinge having a leaf adapted to be attached to said table and having a skeleton angle -iron, and a clamp, adapted to be fastened to said cover and to secure said angle-iron thereto, as and for the purpose specified.

4E. The combination of a table, adapted to support a book, a cover, a hinge connecting said table and cover, said hinge havingaleaf adapted to be attached to said table and hav ing a skeleton-angle-iron, a clamp, provided with transverse slots, and screws driven through said slots, into the inner face of said cover, to enable the position of said clamp and hinge to be adjusted on said cover, as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, this 2d day of August, A. D. 1893.

CHESTER F. JOHNSON.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. Moons, ll/IYRTIE 0. MANsUn.

lie 

